When manufacturing an electrode for a solar cell, the electrode is formed on the side where an anti-reflection film is formed. To form the electrode, a paste containing an electroconductive powder, such as a silver powder, glass frit, resin binder, and, if necessary, other additives is coated on the anti-reflection layer, followed by sintering.
The characteristics of the electrode are important in improving the power-generation characteristic of the solar cell. For example, the power-generation efficiency can be increased by reducing the resistance of the electrode. Various methods have been proposed in order to realize this objective.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-243500A discloses a technology for manufacturing an electrode with sufficient conductivity. More specifically, the patent reference discloses an electroconductive paste containing an organic binder, solvent, glass frit, electroconductive powder, and at least one metal selected from Ti, Bi, Zn, Y, In, and Mo or a compound of that metal. The average particle size of the metal or its compound in the electroconductive paste is larger than 0.001 μm but smaller than 0.1 μm. The electroconductive paste can provide high conductivity with respect to semiconductors, along with excellent adhesion properties.